Newcastle United have been chasing Bafetimbi Gomis for a long time, and with the Frenchman out of contract at Lyon this summer it finally seemed like their best chance of signing him.

The Magpies need for a striker is as big as ever with Loic Remy, Shola Ameobi and Luuk De Jong all departing from last season, and Papiss Cisse has struggled for form since the marvellous impact he had on the end of the 2011-2012 season. However it now seems that their number one target Gomis could be heading to Fenerbahce instead.

Reports in both France and Turkey suggest that Gomis is edging closer to a move to Fenerbahce. This would be a huge blow to Newcastle who have had Gomis on their radar since 2008 when Kevin Keegan first identified him in his second spell in charge at St James' Park.

Players who arrive on free transfers can usually command much bigger salaries than usual. The club is saving money on the transfer fee so can therefore attribute more to the players wage to try and stave off interest from other clubs.

A couple of weeks ago The Mirror reported that The Magpies were willing to offer Gomis a deal in the region of £85,000 a week, however he was hoping to hold out for £100,000. The same article suggested that Sunderland, Swansea City and West Ham United were interested in the 28-year-old but had been put off by his wage demands.

Mike Ashley will be under a lot of pressure from the fans this summer to spend some cash and improve the squad. Newcastle had an awful second half to last season following the sale of Yohan Cabaye and the lack of replacement. They will certainly need plenty of investment this summer.

Josh McLoughlin

Josh is a 21-year-old aspiring Football journalist based in Preston/Manchester and a huge Preston North End fan. His own blog aloadofballs1.wordpress.com takes a look at many Football issues from across the world and has attracted views from all over the world, from Nepal to Peru.